2010′s % of Letterman Returning

First of all, I want to wish you and your families a very happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend! Since many of you will be away from your computers this weekend, today’s blog will be posted until Tuesday June 1st. If you do want to get your hands on my 2010 College Football Preview before it officially hits the newsstands on June 8th, you can order it anytime this weekend thru our offices by calling 1-866-918-7711 or just visit the PhilSteele.com store.

In case you missed it yesterday I was on ESPN College Football Live breaking down my Top 25 with Host Eric Kuselias and specifically my surprise #1 pick. It is a short segment but if you get chance, check it out here.

Please check PhilSteele.com everyday to get my Top 30 Countdown, which posted #20 Florida St yesterday. Thru June 16th, I will post both magazine pages on a new team ranked in the Top 30 and you can get an early look on how I breakdown your favorite team. Remember those magazine pages are available for only 24 hours for you to download. Today, Georgia comes in at #19.

Also you can download all of my preseason All-Conference teams on the homepage!

For 7 years I had listed an experience chart, which broke down the number of Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen each team had in the two deep and rated the teams experience level with a formula I devised. Last year, I made the experience chart FIVE TIMES better. I am just listing the Senior starters, and the seniors in the two deep and the points accumulated by using the system in the magazine (pg 311). In a future blog, I will break down each number of starters for the Junior, Sophomore and Freshman classes. The 2nd factor that goes into my overall chart is the % of yards returning which I broke down in the April 28th blog. Another factor listed is the % of lettermen returning which I will breakdown today.

Last year I went back and looked at percentages of lettermen returning and lost. Using percentages is more reliable than the amount of returning or lost lettermen because schools give out letters in different manners. Some schools hand out a lot of letters and others far fewer. Getting a letter at Syracuse under Paul Pasqualoni was tough, as he handed out just 38 total letters in 2004 and 40 in 2003. This year the low’s went to North Carolina St and Western Michigan with 49 each. Nebraska in 2001 handed out 82 letters or over double what Syracuse was giving out. It was also the most given out by any school in the previous 6 years. In 2007, Ohio broke all records with an amazing 91 letters given out while Hawaii had 90! Last year Ohio was at the top again with 82 and USC had 80.

2010′s % of Letterman Returning

Rank

Team

% LTR Ret

Rank

Team

% LTR Ret

1

BOISE ST

91.70%

61

IOWA

70.60%

2

ARKANSAS

83.10%

62

TULANE

70.60%

3

S CAROLINA

83.10%

63

FLORIDA ST

70.50%

4

IDAHO

81.00%

64

TEXAS A&M

70.50%

5

TEMPLE

80.00%

65

LOUISVILLE

70.10%

6

NEBRASKA

79.70%

66

TOLEDO

69.80%

7

TCU

79.40%

67

WISCONSIN

69.70%

8

MARYLAND

79.30%

68

OHIO STATE

69.60%

9

UCF

79.30%

69

CONNECTICUT

69.60%

10

N CAROLINA

78.00%

70

VIRGINIA

69.40%

11

OHIO

78.00%

71

DUKE

69.00%

12

KENT ST

77.80%

72

MICHIGAN ST

69.00%

13

LA TECH

77.80%

73

PITTSBURGH

69.00%

14

RICE

77.30%

74

ARMY

69.00%

15

OREGON ST

77.30%

75

IOWA ST

68.90%

16

GEORGIA TECH

77.10%

76

MICHIGAN

68.80%

17

SMU

76.80%

77

BOWLING GREEN

68.30%

18

SOUTH FLORIDA

76.60%

78

LOUISIANA

68.30%

19

MISS ST

76.60%

79

NEW MEXICO ST

68.30%

20

KANSAS

76.50%

80

PURDUE

67.70%

21

MARSHALL

75.40%

81

TEXAS

67.60%

22

CALIFORNIA

75.30%

82

USC

67.50%

23

ILLINOIS

75.00%

83

INDIANA

67.20%

24

TULSA

75.00%

84

BAYLOR

67.10%

25

UAB

75.00%

85

OKLAHOMA

67.10%

26

BUFFALO

75.00%

86

UTAH

67.10%

27

AIR FORCE

75.00%

87

ARKANSAS ST

67.10%

28

MIDDLE TENN

75.00%

88

N ILLINOIS

66.70%

29

FRESNO ST

75.00%

89

FIU

66.70%

30

UTAH ST

75.00%

90

GEORGIA

66.20%

31

AKRON

74.70%

91

TENNESSEE

66.20%

32

HOUSTON

74.60%

92

BOSTON COLLEGE

65.60%

33

COLORADO ST

74.20%

93

SOUTHERN MISS

65.60%

34

C MICHIGAN

74.10%

94

UCLA

65.20%

35

MIAMI, OH

73.90%

95

VANDERBILT

64.90%

36

BALL ST

73.70%

96

KANSAS ST

64.50%

37

ARIZONA

73.40%

97

RUTGERS

64.30%

38

NORTHWESTERN

73.30%

98

UTEP

64.30%

39

COLORADO

73.30%

99

MEMPHIS

64.30%

40

NEVADA

73.00%

100

FAU

64.00%

41

STANFORD

72.90%

101

VIRGINIA TECH

63.90%

42

UNLV

72.70%

102

BYU

63.90%

43

N TEXAS

72.70%

103

TROY

63.90%

44

WASHINGTON

72.50%

104

SAN DIEGO ST

63.80%

45

TEXAS TECH

72.30%

105

FLORIDA

63.60%

46

MISSOURI

72.10%

106

MISSISSIPPI

63.50%

47

CINCINNATI

72.10%

107

MINNESOTA

63.30%

48

NEW MEXICO

72.10%

108

PENN ST

63.20%

49

SYRACUSE

71.90%

109

ALABAMA

63.10%

50

OREGON

71.90%

110

KENTUCKY

63.00%

51

CLEMSON

71.80%

111

WYOMING

62.50%

52

MIAMI, FL

71.80%

112

HAWAII

62.30%

53

W MICHIGAN

71.40%

113

NOTRE DAME

61.10%

54

WASH ST

71.40%

114

ULM

60.60%

55

AUBURN

71.40%

115

SAN JOSE ST

60.30%

56

E MICHIGAN

71.00%

116

WEST VIRGINIA

59.60%

57

WKU

71.00%

117

N CAROLINA ST

59.20%

58

ARIZONA ST

70.80%

118

E CAROLINA

58.90%

59

LSU

70.80%

119

OKLAHOMA ST

57.90%

60

WAKE FOREST

70.60%

120

NAVY

55.20%

Boise St was #1 in % of yards returning and they are #1 here in % of letterman returning with 55 of 60 players back (91.7%). Arkansas is #2 with 59 out of 71 letterman returning (83.1%). South Carolina returns 54 out of 65 (83.1%), which is good enough for #3 in the FBS. At the bottom of the rankings is Navy who returns just 55.2% of their letterman but it should be noted that Service Academies usually do not return a lot of starters and letterman (LY Navy #119, Army #120). At #119 is Oklahoma St who returns just 33 out of 57 letterman from last year (57.9%). #118 is 2-time defending CUSA champ East Carolina who returns just 58.9% from last year.

I will be back on Tuesday. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!!!

ConnGator,While Florida and Alabama clearly are not as experienced as last year they still are two of the most talented teams in the SEC. Alabama has finished in my Top 5 recruiting rankings for three straight seasons while Florida has finished in my top 6 five straight years. Combine that talent with two of the best coaches in Saban an Meyer and you get a probable 3rd straight meeting although it will be a tougher road for both teams than the last two years. Thanks for the question, Phil

http://www.philsteele.com Phil Steele

SED,It means they return their starting QB. Good Question, Phil

http://www.philsteele.com Phil Steele

ConnGator,While Florida and Alabama clearly are not as experienced as last year they still are two of the most talented teams in the SEC. Alabama has finished in my Top 5 recruiting rankings for three straight seasons while Florida has finished in my top 6 five straight years. Combine that talent with two of the best coaches in Saban an Meyer and you get a probable 3rd straight meeting although it will be a tougher road for both teams than the last two years. Thanks for the question, Phil